Thomas j



(No Modl.)

T. J. PALMER. MANUFACTURE OF DECORATIVE MATERIALS FOR WALLS AND OTHER PURPOSES.

Patented Sept. 13, 1887.

N. PETERS, VholwUlhugnphnr. Washington. a. C.

UNITED STATES 7 Erica.

PATENT THOMAS J. P ALMER, OF NORTH STREET, CARSHALTON, OOUN TY OF SURREY,

I ENGLAND.

MANUFACTURE OF DECORATIVE MATERIALS FOR WALLS AND OTHER PURPOSES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 369,957,dated September 13,1887.

Application filed June 14, 1886. Serial No. 205,091. (No model.) Patented in England September 3, 1883, No- 4,227.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS JOHN PALMER, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and residing at North Street, Garshalton, in the county of Surrey, England, have invented certain Improvements in the Manufacture of Decorative Materials for \Valls and other Purposes, (for which I have obtained a patent in Great Britain, No. 4,227, dated September 3, 10 1883,) of which the following is a specification. My invention relates to improvementsin the manufacture of decorative material for walls and for other decorative purposes, and in the machinery or apparatus employed in the said 1 q manufacture, the said improvements being in part applicable to the manufacture of felt papers and mill'board, as hereinafter explained. In carrying my invention into effect I take any materials such as are or may be used in the manufacture of paper and prepare the same into a pulpy mass after the manner in which paper-pulp is customarily or may be prepared, and I convey the said pulp into the wire-cloth of a paper-making machine in the way practiced in the manufacture of paper, but in a thick layer suitable for the purpose of my invention. A difficulty in or impediment to the making of a thick paper material has hitherto been the depriving it sufficiently of 0 moisture throughout its thickness. To eifect this I use an endless blanket or web of great absorbent power, which I bring onto the top of the pulp on the wire-cloth, and I cause the said blanket or web to travel with the pulp, 5 5 preferably until it reaches the couchrolls. I

then return the said blanket or web over suitable rollers, causing in its passage the Water which it has taken up from the pulp to be pressed therefrom. The layer of paper mateo rial, having reached the couch-rolls, proceeds on an endless blanket (which may be like that used with ordinary paper-making machines) until it reaches the first pressing-rollers. I now take the said layer of paper material onto 5 a wire-cloth or a blanket or absorbent web, or both of them, and convey the said layer upon one or other, or both, of them between pressure rollers or devices, the one of which next the layer of paper material has a pattern cut or otherwise formed upon it corresponding to the pattern or design to be impressed upon the paper material. I can thus make a mate rial for decorative purposes composed of thick paper material in imitation of carved or other work. The last named blanket or absorbcut web, when used, is passed back by means of rollers, and the water is pressed from it. The material thus produced may be subsequently dried or treated in any desired way. Certain of the improvements may be applied to the manufacture of felt papers and millboard, as hereinafter explained.

In order that my invention may be fully understood, I shall now more particularly describe it, referring to the accompanying diagram, which represents the way a papermaking machine may be arranged for carrying into effect the purposes of my invention.

In the said diagram I have not considered it necessary to show all the parts of the framing 0 and details of the machine and its attachments, as they and the means for giving motion to the moving parts may be of any suitable description, as will be readily understood by any one conversant with paper-making 5 machinergy.

I do not limit myself to the precise arrangements of the rollers or guides indicated, as it will be quite evident that they may be varied without departing from the nature of my invention.

Referring to the said diagram, any mate rials that are or may be used in the manufacture of paper are prepared into a pulpy mass after the manner in which paper-pulp is pre- 8 pared, and I convey the said pulp onto the Wire-cloth of the machine in the way practiced in the manufacture of paper, but in a thick 1ayerthat is to say, in a mass thick enough to give a material suitable for the purposes of my invention. findicates the said wire-cloth, which may be arranged as in an ordinary paper-making machine. It is necessary in making this thick layer of paper material to provide means for sufficiently depriving it of 5 moisture throughout its thickness. For this purpose I use an endless blanket or web, a, of great absorbent power, which I cause to bear upon or come in contact with the upper surface of the layer of pulp as it passes over the suction-boxes, and to travel with it until it reaches or nearly reaches the couch-rolls b. I then pass the said blanket back over a roller, 0, (to which roller I may attach an adjustment to regulate it according to the thickness of the paper material being made,) and return the said blanket by passing it over rollers. This may be effected by the arrangement shown, consisting of the rollers d ande, under and over which, respectively, the blanket is passed. One of these rollers may be used as an expanding-roller to keep the blanket in proper tension. I may use a brush -roller, scraper, or cleaner, as at g, for the purpose of cleaning off any pulp that may have adhered to the said blanket. I then pass the said blanket between two other rollers, h i, where it receives a pressure to force out the water it has taken up in its passage over the layer of pulp, and under' these rollers I place a suitable receptacle, j, to receii e the water pressed out of the blanket. A pipe may be affixed to this receptacle to convey the water to beneath the machine or to any suitable place. The blanket then passes overthe roller back to the layer of pulp. The layer of paper material, having reached the couch-rollers b, is carried on an endless blanket, 1, until it reaches and is carried between and past the first pressing-rollers, m. I now use another endless wire-cloth,p, and another endless blanket, n, and I convey the layer of paper material from the blanket Z first onto the wire-cloth p, and then bring the said wirecloth, by means of rollers g 1', onto the blanket it, so that'thesaid blanket is undermost, the layer of paper material uppermost, and the wire-cloth between them, and in this position' I convey them between pressurerollers s 25, one of which (that s) has a pattern engraved or formed on it, which pattern will be embossed on one surface of the paper material as it passes under it. p The other roller, t, is a plain-surfaced roller to receive the pressure.

I thus produce an ornamental paper material embossed on its face in solid relief and with a fiat back, except that the said back will have indentations corresponding with the wires of the wire-cloth p, which will render it much easier to secure onto the surfaces which it is to be used to ornament than it would be if the back were smooth. After the paper material has 'been embossed, I separate the wire-clothp and. the paper material from the blanket n,

and convey the said blanket between pressure rollers u to press out the water it received from the paper material while it was being embossed. Beneath the pressu re-rollers u, I place a receptacle to receive the water, to which receptacle I may attach a pipe to carry off the water. The blanket is returned by means of rollers 12 v v o o (one. of which rollerse-say that 'v'-may be'a tension-regulating roller) to the entering-roller r. The endless wirecloth 1?, with the embossed paper material on it, I convey over a roller or rollers, as at w, and I then convey the paper material onto drying-cylinders or into or onto other suitable apparatus, for drying the, material, the wire-cloth being returned, as shown, so that it meets the paper material and blanketn and travels with them back again between the rollers s and 't, as hereinbefore described. I may use the equivalent of the wire-cloth p in place thereof-for example, I may use aband or sheet of perforated metaland for certain kinds of material I may omit the blanket n, in which case a brush. scraper, or cleaner should be used to act upon the pressure-roller t to clear it of water.

If I desire to emboss the paper material in hollow relief, I may leave out the endless wire-cloth p, or its equivalent, and use only the endless blanket n. In the diagram I have marked the line indicating the paper mate:

rial m.

In making felt paper or mill-board I use the hereinbefore-described means for operating on the layer of papermaterial until it reaches the couch-rolls. From this point I proceed in the well-known way when making felt paper; but, if making mill-board, I may convey the layer of paper material from the first pressing-rollers, m, direct to the second pressing-rollers, s t, where I substitute a plain-surfaced roller for the embossing-roller s. From this point I convey the mill-board to be dried by any suitable means. thick felt paper or asbestus felt and pass it through a suitable bath to thoroughly saturate it, (the said bath being placed between the couch-rolls and the first pressing-rollers, 1a,) and then proceed to emboss a'pattern on it by the same process as hereinbefore described.

If I desire to parchmentize my paper material or to waterproof it, or to color it, or to treat it in any way to cover its surface or impregnate it with any matter, I may do so by any well-known or suitable means during its progress through the machine or at any suitable orconvenient point or stage of its manufacture.

By means of my process not only do I accomplish in one operation and in a more serviceable and economical manner that which has heretofore been performed by two operations, and generally by two different manufacturers, but I produce a material which in important respects is different from and possesses advantages over decorative materials hitherto producedby other processes. By embossing the pulp before it has assumed the form of a paper, and while ina plastic state, I obtain in one instance a fiat back behind the embossed parts, which therebyprevents the raised pattern being flattened or contracting out of shape. When the paper is made according to my process in hollow relief, the paper is dense and strong in the bossed or raised part and can be made thicker than in the ground of the pattern, the raised parts being thus well sup ported and the liability of flattening or pressing out of shape avoided. In the ordinary embossed paper the fiber is liable to be strained and broken in the embossing process,.and the I may also take previously-made raised or bossed part is weaker and less dense than the ground. Moreover, by my process I am able to obtain the most delicate detail in design, and consequently the most artistic finish. This cannot be secured by embossing a previously-made sheet of paper, because this is embossed up from the back by a counterroller to the embossing-roller, and since the paper must of necessity be stout and strong to stand the pressure at all, it cannot be made to take the impression of a delicate pattern. Moreover, as the paper is of the same thick-' ness throughout, it isimpossible to impart to it a perfect impression of the pattern on the roller.

The paper or decorative material embossed in solid relief presents no objectionable cavities between it and the wall to become infested with insects or other organisms pro duced by the putrefaction of the masses of paste which fill the hollows of ordinary embossed papers when fixed on the walls. Furthermore, the new material, being made directly from the pulp, is free from oily or other ingredients which exude in a hot room and are injurious and objectionable.

The new material by its properties and characteristics is readily distinguishable from ordinary embossed wallpaper. In the latter the fibers in the raised parts are distorted, strained, and broken, being unequally compressed in the process of embossing or striking up from asheet of paper already made. Frequently the texture of the paper is so injured by this process that the fibers in places are entirely disrupted,as made evident by holding it up to the light.

The new material presents the appearances and characteristics of a molded article, the texture and density beingpraetit'ally uniform throughout and the surfaces bearing the design in such sharpness and distinctness as can only be produced by molding the material in a plastic state.

By the hereinbefore-mentioned term paper material I mean any material or pulp which can be treated as paper is treated in its manufacture.

If desired, I may pass the layer of material under or against more than one embossing roller or device.

Having now described the nature of myinvention and the manner of using it or carrying it into practical effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not limit myself to the precise details hereinbefore described, and illustrated by the accompanying diagram, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my invention; but

\Vhat I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim, is-

1. In the manufacture of decorative material, the improvement consisting in conveying the paper-making material in a thick layer upon the wire-cloth of a paper-machine, removing the moisture therefrom, and impress ing a pattern or design thereon while in a plastic state, substantially as described.

2. In apparatus for producing decorative material, felt paper, or mill-board from paperpulp or paper material, the combination,with the suctionboxes and the wire-cloth, of a blanket or web of absorbentmaterial for abstracting moisture as the pulp passes to the couch-rolls, and the pressing and embossing or pattern rollers, substantially as described.

3. In apparatus for the manufacture of decorative material from paper-pulp or paper material, the combination of wire-cloth or its equivalent, a blanket beneath the wirecloth, upon which wire-cloth the pulp is received after it passes the first pressure-rollers, and the embossing rollers or devices between which the pulp or paper material is passed when upon the wire-cloth, with the blanket beneath, whereby the decorative design is raised or embossed upon said material, substantially as described.

4. The combination of the blanket or web upon which the layer of paper material is received in a plastic state afterit passes the first pressure-rolls, and the rollers or devices for producing a decorative design upon said material when passed between them upon said blanket or web, substantially as described.

5. The combination,with apparatus for producing a layer of paper-pulp or paper-making material, of a roller or device or rollers or devices having upon it or them the design to be produced upon the said pulp or material, and so arranged as to act upon the said layer of pulp or material as it is passed beneath or in contact with the said roller or rollers or device or devices, and thereby produce the required design on the said pulp or material, substantially as hereinbefore described.

6. A molded paper decorative material having an embossed surface, the component fibers of said material being uniformly compressed throughout, substantially as described,in contradistinction to an embossed paper material struck up from a sheet of paper, wherein the fibers are unequally compressed.

7. A decorative paper material having a flat back and an embossed or raised design on the face thereof, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THOS. J. PALMER.

WVitnesses:

HENRY G. NEEMAN, R. GALLON,

Both of 9 Bio-chin Lane. 

